WOS: 000437199300001 ; Bu araştırmada, Türkiye'de farklı cinsiyet, etnik ve mezhep gruplarına mensup kişilerin, demokrasi ve demokratik devlet tanımları 60 adet yarı-yapılandırılmış yüz yüze görüşmeye dayanarak çalışılmıştır. Bu görüşmelerde, çeşitli etnik ve dini kimliklere ve sosyo-ekonomik gruplara ait bireylerle konuşulmuştur. Görüşmelerin analizi sonucunda, demokrasiyi tanımlarken, kadınların cinsiyet eşitliği üzerinde durduğu, Kürtlerin ve Alevilerin hak ve özgürlüklere, Sünni Türk erkeklerin ise ekonomik refaha odaklandıkları görülmüştür. Bu bulgulara dayanarak, devletle tartışmalı bir ilişki içerisinde olan kimlik gruplarının demokrasiyi hak ve özgürlükler açısından tanımlamaya, devletle bu şekilde bir ilişki içerisinde olmayan grupların ise demokrasiyi tanımlarken ekonomik konuları merkeze almaya daha eğilimli olduğu ortaya konmuştur. Çalışmada ayrıca katılımcıların demokratik devletten beklentileri de incelenmiştir. Görüşmelerin bu bölümünde de benzer sonuçlara ulaşılmıştır. Sünni Türk erkeklerin demokratik devletten beklentileri arasında eşitlik bulunduğu durumlarda bile, bu görüşmecilerin daha çok ekonomik eşitliğin belirli bir ölçüde sağlanmasını kastettikleri anlaşılmıştır. Bunun aksine, Sünni Türk kadınlar, Kürtler ve Aleviler, demokratik devletten beklentilerinin arasında farklı etnik ve dini gruplar arasında eşitliğin sağlanması olduğunu ifade etmişlerdir. Türkiye toplumunu oluşturan bu kimlik gruplarının demokrasiye ve demokratik devlete ilişkin tutumlarındaki bu önemli farklılıklar, Türkiye'de hem demokrasinin konsolide edilmesi hem de bu konudaki toplumsal ayrışmanın azaltılması yönündeki sorunlara işaret etmektedir. ; Utilizing 60 interviews, we examine how people belonging to different gender, ethnic, and sectarian groups in Turkey define democracy and the democratic state. An analysis of the interviews reveals that women emphasize gender equality, while Kurds and Alevis focus on rights and freedoms in their definitions of democracy. Male Sunni Turks, on the other hand, focus on economic welfare. On the basis of these results, we argue that identity groups that have a problematic relationship with the state are more likely to define democracy in terms of rights and freedoms, whereas those who do not have a problematic relationship with the state are more likely to consider economic issues as central to democracy. This research also examined people's expectations of a democratic state. When male Sunni Turks indicated that equality is among their expectations of a democratic state, they formulated it in terms of the state realizing economic equality. Female Sunni Turks, Kurds, and Alevis, on the other hand, emphasized the provision of equality among different ethnic and religious groups in their expectations of a democratic state. These important differences among identity groups in Turkey in terms of their attitudes toward democracy and the democratic state illustrate the problems involved in consolidating democracy as well as significant challenges in lessening social differentiation regarding this issue.
Url: http://josc.selcuk.edu.tr/article/view/1075000269 ; Demokratik siyasi rejimlerin hakim olduğu toplumlarda halk, farklı seçenekler arasından tercihler yaparak siyasi iktidarı ya da kendilerini yönetecek kişileri seçerler. Seçim kararının kendisi basit bir karar gibi görülürken; seçim tercihinin belirleyicileri olarak bir çok bağımsız değişken bulunmaktadır. Bunlar, grup baskılarından aile ve siyasal geçmişe, ekonomik koşullardan parti taraftarlığı ve aday imajlarına kadar uzanan geniş bir yelpazeye sahiptir. Öte yandan bazı seçmenler sadece vatandaşlık görevini yerine getirmek için sandık başına giderken; bazıları da adaylarla ilgili çeşitli değerlendirmeler, çağrışımlar ve imajlar sonucu oy kullanabilmektedirler. Siyasal kampanya çalışmalarında imaj oluşturma önemli bir uygulama olarak görülmektedir. Çünkü seçmenler, karar verme süreçlerinde kendi ideal aday profilleri ile önlerine çıkan gerçek aday imajları arasında bir mukayese yapmaktadırlar. İşte bu çalışmada, seçmenlerin zihinlerinde bir adaya yönelik imaj oluştururlarken hangi değişkenlerden etkilendikleri ortaya konulmaya çalışılmaktadır. Konya merkezde 470 denek ile ankete dayalı yüz yüze görüşme tekniği kullanılarak yapılan alan araştırmasından elde edilen bulgulara göre ortaya çıkan en temel sonuç; aday imajı oluşumunda bir çok değişken bulunmasına rağmen, adayın karakteristiklerinin en büyük paya sahip olduğudur. Seçmenin zihnindeki aday imajını; cinsiyet, yaş, medeni durum, eğitim düzeyi, gelir düzeyi, meslek, siyasal kimlik tanımlaması ve oy verilen parti gibi değişkenlerin de farklı düzeylerde etkilediği anlaşılmıştır. ; In societies where democratic political regimes rule, the people have the choice from various alternatives to elect the political power or those to govern. While the voting decision itself seems a simple one in one respect, there are many independent variables which have determining influence on the voting choice. These are spread in a wide range from group pressures to family issues and partisanship and political past, from economical conditions to candidate images etc. On the other hand, while some voters go to the ballot box as merely to fulfill a civic duty, some are able to cast their vote only as a result of various evaluations, associations and images. In political campaigning, image forming is considered as an important practice, because in the decision making process, the voters use their ideal candidate profile for comparing with these of the actual candidates they are encountering. The aim of this study is to reveal the variables which are affecting the image forming process in the voter's mind about a candidate. The main results of the opinion poll which has been conducted by face to face interviews in the city center of Konya on 470 subjects were these: although there are a number of variables effective on the candidate image, the character attributes of the candidates have been found as the most effective factor. In addition; variables like gender, age, marital status and level of education, level of income, profession, political identity and party affiliation of the candidate have been found also effective at differing levels on the candidate image of the voter's mind.
Demokrasinin vazgeçilmez unsuru olan seçimler, seçmenlerin ülkenin yönetilmesinde söz sahibi olmasını istedikleri kişi ya da siyasi partiye yetki vermesi anlamına gelmektedir. Ancak seçmenlerin oy verme davranışını yönlendiren birbirinden farklı nedenler bulunabilmektedir. Sosyo-ekonomik, psikolojik birçok unsurun etkisiyle hareket eden bu seçmenlerin eğilimleri ülkelere, toplumlara hatta aynı bölge ve şehirlere göre farklılık göstermektedir. Türkiye'de seçmen tercihleri ile seçmen tercihlerini etkileyen sosyo-kültürel, ekonomik vb. etkenler hususunda çok sayıda ve geniş kapsamlı birçok araştırma yapılmıştır. Ancak seçmenlerin seçim zamanlarında gerçekleştirilen siyasal seçim kampanyalarında ortaya konulan vaatleri ne kadar dikkate aldığı ya da vaatlerin kaynağı hususunda ne kadar bilgili oldukları hakkında çok fazla bilgi bulunmamaktadır. Dolayısıyla Türkiye'de seçim kampanyalarında kullanılan seçim vaatlerinin seçmenler tarafından hangi siyasi partiye ait olduğunun bilinirliği bir problem olarak ortada durmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı da bu çerçevede Türkiye'de seçim kampanyalarında kullanılan seçim vaatlerinin seçmenler tarafından bilinirliği ve kampanyalarda kullanılan seçim vaatlerinin hangi siyasi partiye ait olduğunun bilinirliğinin tespitini sağlamaktır. ; As an indispensable constituent of democracy, elections can be defined as the authorization of the individuals or political parties that voters favor most to rule the state. Nonetheless it is likely that a wide range of motives direct polling behavior of voters. Driven from a multitude of factors such as socio-economic and psychological the voters, in their polling behavior, may differ with respect to countries, social communities, regions, provinces and expectations. As an outcome of the differentiation of expectations, it became inevitable that parties with different inclinations would introduce polyphony into political life. A good number of comprehensive studies have been conducted on voter preferences in Turkey as well as socio-cultural, economic and similar factors playing role in voter preferences. Nevertheless it has been detected that there are limited number of researches focusing on to what extent voters pay heeds to the promises outspoken during political campaigns or their knowledge on the party origins of such promises. Hence it appears that the awareness of voters regarding the origin of election promises used by each party in Turkey during political campaigns stands as a problem. Within that scope the purpose of current study is to detect whether the promises given during political campaigns in Turkey are paid attention by voters and the level of awareness on the political party origins of these promises. Current research unveiling the general attitudes and inclinations of Konya voters shall meanwhile offer a general evaluation whether voters take declarations of election into consideration and how attentively they follow the party they vote for. Data essential for this research have been collected from a questionnaire which is listed amongst the resources of secondary data. In this questionnaire, there are close-ended questions in addition to Likert scale questions. Field study has been conducted through face-to-face survey method. Field study has covered collectively 1907 subjects from total 22 districts in Konya; 3 central districts and 19 sub districts. Population includes all the voters in Turkey who bear the ability of electing and being elected. After tabulating basic information and inclination of voters in districts, by taking certain criteria into account such as age, profession and income level, the evaluation shall be based on detecting certain issues voters need urgent solutions and also partial analyses shall be aimed to detect how attentively some populations follow campaign promises while voting for their parties and how attentively they analyze declarations of elections. In this questionnaire, aside from questions directed to gather information on the general evaluation of voters, there are some questions as stated below in order to uncover how attentively relevant populations follow campaign promises of the parties. "All living places shall be disabled-friendly", "A high-quality life standard shall be provided to senior citizens", "A new Constitution underscoring personal freedom and judicial independence", "Per capita income shall rise to 25 thousand dollars", "Low-income families shall be granted houses with no advance payments", "Poor newly-wed farmers shall be aided with zerointerest loan", "The dormitories in KYK (Credit and Dormitories Agency) shall reach to 600-thousand capacity", "All citizens shall be covered with health insurance", "Fight against terrorism and state aid for the victims of terrorism", "Personnel cadre ambiguity shall be stopped", "Small size farmers shall receive support", "Chauffeurs shall pay no VAT (Value added tax), SCT(Special consumption tax)", "SMEs shall pay no VAT", "Poor families shall be assisted with Hilalkart", "Wages for the disabled shall be boosted to 450 TL", "Net minimum wage shall be increased to 825 TL", "The aids for the poor shall be increased", "Poor and middle income citizens shall be provided with full mortgage", "Poor Women shall be granted assistance", "Adaptation Law shall pass and better conditions shall be provided to the retired", "University fees shall be nullified", "Istanbul shall be proclaimed as the new prestige finance center". Accordingly the answers of the voter populations to determine the origin -AKP, CHP or MHP- of the most leading promises in declarations of election and fields have been sought. Declaration of election -which is a partnership treaty signed between political parties to be elected and the voters whose polls they need- has been annexed to the relevant questionnaire because of being an issue ignored in our country. In the analysis part of research, a couple of tables that reflect the thoughts of voters regarding the political party origins of the promises that we deem to have been in relation to certain populations are illustrated. Research sampling consists of subjects bearing the ability to elect and be elected selected via simple random sampling method from voters in Konya. The questionnaire which constitutes in the introduction part general questions such as the age, gender, educational background, marital status, profession and monthly income level of participants has been divided into various groups of questions. Thus it has been aimed to detect the issues voters demand urgent solution and also how attentively voters follow election campaigns and whether they are aware of the political party origins of campaign promises. In the end it has been feasible to reach a conclusion regarding the voter population in Konya, political parties that are popular on the basis of districts. Elections are acknowledged as an indication of democratization for countries since it is verified that national will shall eventually rise as the winner from ballot box. However it is indeed hard to detect how many of the voters demonstrate a conscious attitude. Some voters bear an ideological attitude and partisan identity whereas some voters vote for the party whom they believe to be most beneficial for their own sake. The causes that lead a person to different inclinations are not only psychological but can be attributed to a wide range of variables like economic factors, family, educational level, income level, profession, religious tenets (even ethic origins during the latest ages). As regards the outcome with respect to Turkey it seems challenging to arrive at a certain conclusion for the voter population since other than entrenched votes there are also amphibian votes for the parties and no equal stability can be ensured for each party. Therefore it can be argued that the majority of Turkish voters act pragmatically rather than ideologically. In this questionnaire that constitutes the scope of current research data gathered from 22 districts of the sampling city Konya are supportive of this finding. To illustrate, the collected responses manifest that voters select with no awareness of the programs of parties and actually pay no heeds to such issues. Furthermore on the basis of such data it can reasonably be argued that the majority of voters in Konya province unite around the very same parties.
